THE fate of two rural schools near Abergavenny was sealed by Assembly Education Minister Jane Davison after she backed plans to close them down last night.

Parents expressed their anger after the running costs of Darenfelen Primary School and Clydach Primary School were deemed too high given the low numbers of pupils.

They will now have to send their children elsewhere in September after Ms Davison informed Monmouthshire Local Education Authority the schools would close in July.

"We're very disappointed," said Belinda Bowkett of Clyd-ach, whose eight-year-old son Rory is one of 23 pupils currently attending Clydach School.

"Now Rory's worried he and his friends will be split up next year." Mrs Bowkett criticised Monmouthshire county council's handling of the affair.

"They say the pupil numbers are too low, but children and their parents have been driven away in the last few years by the threats of closure coming out of County Hall," she said.

Martin Thomas, chairman of governors at Clydach, said: "The school was the only thing holding the rural community together - now it's being torn away from us."

A strategic review by Monm-outhshire county councillors in January 2005 recommended the closure of the two schools after they gained a last-minute reprieve in 2002.

In order to retain them, the LEA introduced a "cluster" model where the governing bodies remained but one head teacher, Sian McGrath, covered both schools.

However, Ms Davison wrote to Monmouthshire LEA this week indicating she would support the closure of the schools.

In the letter Ms Davison said pupil numbers had continued to fall despite efforts made to try to keep the schools afloat.

"Pupils will have a more secure quality of educational experience if they transfer to larger schools," she added.

Councillor Peter Fox, cabinet member for lifelong learning, said: "It was a difficult decision to make these proposals but at the end of the day the learning needs of pupils must come first."

Mr Fox said the LEA would be doing all it can to support staff and parents through the transition period.

The future of the staff at both schools remains unclear.